Liberalization, Technology Adoption, and Stock Returns: Evidence from Telecom

Rabah Arezki (1, 2) , Vianney Dequiedt (3, 4) , Rachel Yuting Fan (5) , Carlo Maria Rossotto (5)

1 BAD - Banque africaine de développement / African Development Bank
2 Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
3 CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International
4 FERDI - Fondation pour les Etudes et Recherches sur le Développement International
5 Banque Mondiale - Banque Mondiale

The paper investigates the pace of technology adoption in telecom technology post liberalization and its effect on stock returns using a new global panel dataset. Results are twofold. First, evidence points to the complementarity between telecom liberalization and regulatory independence in driving a sustained pace of technology adoption. Second, results show a positive and economically significant effect of telecom adoption on stock returns pointing to significant spillovers of telecom to the rest of the economy.

Mots clés: Liberalization; Technology adoption; Telecom; Regulation; Stock returns

Domaines: Economies et finances

Rabah Arezki, Vianney Dequiedt, Rachel Yuting Fan, Carlo Maria Rossotto. Liberalization, Technology Adoption, and Stock Returns: Evidence from Telecom. 2021. ⟨hal-03174354⟩